Many conventional methods and systems are available for protecting vehicles during accidents, by absorbing crash energy during the impacts. Crashworthy systems and devices are now deployed in many vehicles, and these systems and devices help to reduce the severity of injuries as a vehicle experiences an impact. Also, there are different means and methods for ensuring passive safety in vehicles, including airbags, seatbelts and vehicle structure design. Many automobiles also incorporate crumple zones, which are designed to absorb crash energy during impacts, through controlled deformation. These zones manage the crash energy, by absorbing it within the outer parts of a vehicle, thus minimizing the crash energy transfer to the occupants.
‘Police Interceptor’ is a term coined for police cars, manufactured by different automobile companies. These interceptors are specifically designed and customized according to the needs of police officials. An example of an interceptor is the Crown Victoria police interceptor (CVPI), which is designed for the law enforcement communities in the United States and Canada. In addition, police cruisers manufactured by Ford Motor Company have gained popularity in the North American market, for they have advantageous features for police use, such as, e.g., rear wheel drive and body-on-frame construction.
During an impact from the rear side, most of the impact energy is absorbed by the rear body side rails of a vehicle. To reduce the severity of an impact, the absorbed impact energy needs to be evenly distributed within the vehicle, and eventually dissipated by the vehicle's body structure. For SUVs used as police interceptors, their side rails are normally designed for a speed of 55 miles per hour, with a 70% overlap during rear crash, to comply with the United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards (FMVSS). However, a more significant challenge is to meet a 75 miles per hour 50% offset standard. Managing the crash energy at this high speed, considering the current structure of the SUVs used as police interceptors, while maintaining the crashworthiness of the SUVs, is still a challenge. Therefore, there is a need for a system/mechanism, which can meet the crash testing requirements, under such conditions, as noted above.